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Manpuku, a bustling Japanese eatery near OCAD, appeals to students on a budget. Its kake udon is yummy, filling and just $3.99. Star reader Angela Han wants to know if her go-to meal is as good for her as it is for her wallet. The Dish finds out. (Randy Risling / Toronto Star)

It costs just $3.99.

“It’s such a great deal for students,” says Han, who used to live in the Village by the Grange, the same building that hosts Manpuku.

Han, who has been known to frequent Manpuku once a week to satisfy her noodle cravings, wants to know whether the kake udon is as good for her as it is her for budget.

“I’m hoping the sodium count isn’t as bad as other noodle dishes,” she says. “As a medical student, I’m more cognizant of my own sodium intake as we learn about hypertension and cardiovascular disease.”

This is no little sip of soup. The takeout version is made with about two cups of broth and a generous two cups of udon. All together, the dish weighs 800 grams, or about 1 3/4 pounds.

Calorie-wise, the udon makes for a reasonable meal. Consider, though, that Health Canada recommends adults consume about 130 grams of carbohydrates a day. With 106 grams, the dish gets close to that limit. In terms of carbohydrates, it’s about the same number as what’s found in two plain bagels from Tim Hortons.

Its 3,115 milligrams of sodium — the equivalent of sprinkling approximately 1 1/3 teaspoon of salt on your meal — is about 800 milligrams more sodium than the daily recommended limit. When it comes to sodium, eating this whole soup is the same as chomping through seven individual (or 66-gram) bags of Lay’s Classic Potato Chips.

How does it stack up to other restaurant noodle soups? At Teriyaki Experience, the spicy udon noodle soup bowl with vegetables weighs 795 grams and has 228 calories, 1 gram of fat and 1,805 milligrams of sodium.

THE EXPERT RESPONSE

If you are a health-conscious diner, three things likely stand out about this meal, registered dietitian Carol Harrison says.

“It’s not balanced — there are few vegetables, lots of noodles and (it) is low in protein,” she says, adding that an easy way to size up whether a meal is balanced is to aim for your plate — or bowl — to be half-filled with vegetables and/or fruits, one-quarter filled with a lean protein and the remaining quarter filled with a grain or grain-product.

“Of course, not every meal has to be balanced. Just be mindful and make it up later in the day and throughout the week.”

Harrison is not surprised by the udon’s high sodium count and says diners should expect most restaurant soups to be salty.

For this reason, she suggests healthy diners make broth dishes an occasional, rather than a regular, meal.

And when you enjoy soup, Harrison adds, realize that it likely contains a day’s worth of sodium and then choose lower-sodium foods the rest of the day.

For the Star reader who was curious about the udon’s nutrition numbers, Harrison has this suggestion: “Pack a big bag of raw vegetables to munch on during the day — on your commute, in between classes. You’ll be surprised how many vegetables you can eat in a day when they’re convenient. That’s another way to make this meal work when you’re a busy, on-the-go student.”

THE RESTAURANT REACTION

Sakiko Ichihara, owner of Manpuku, says kake udon is one of the basic Japanese udon dishes and the restaurant serves a typical version that is topped with slices of fish cake, green onion and tenkasu, what she says is deep-fried batter.

In emails to the Star, Ichihara notes the kake udon is in line with some other restaurant soups reviewed by The Dish, including rare beef pho with satay sauce from The Sprout. In 2011, nutrition analysis revealed this particular pho contained 3,100 milligrams of sodium.

“This is just the traditional ways that the dishes are prepared. The plain noodles are placed in a flavourful broth.”

Ichihara also notes diners do not usually drink all the broth, often leaving more than half remaining in the bowl.

Diners who are concerned about their sodium intake can ask for a diluted bonito broth, Ichihara says. They can also ask for a vegetarian broth, “a different stock where soy sauce is added after. Therefore customers can request a lighter broth.”

Ichihara also writes that the restaurant will “reduce the volume of broth in the takeout containers as it is more than the portion we serve in the restaurant.”

Ichihara adds: “ . . . we care about the well-being of out customers and will do our best to monitor our dishes.”

THE READER REACTION

Han is happy with the calorie reveal but is stunned by the soup’s sodium count.

“Wow,” she says, drawing out the vowel. “I would not have expected that. When you eat it, it doesn’t taste salty at all. It goes to show that the broth has a lot of hidden sodium.”

Though disappointed in the nutrition news, Han says she will return to Manpuku — just maybe not as often.

“It’s such a great deal, especially as a student. It will still be one of my budget-friendly meal options.”

The Dish is a weekly series that helps health-conscious diners navigate Toronto’s food scene by revealing the nutrition information of Star readers’ favourite foods.

If you are curious about the calories in a meal or treat, email Megan Ogilvie at mogilvie@thestar.ca . Items selected to be featured in The Dish will be sent to an accredited laboratory for nutritional analysis.

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